How to save money on 2022 Thanksgiving and Christmas travel

“Prices are up considerably across the board,” said Brett Keller, the CEO of Priceline. Domestic round-trip airfare is 35 percent higher than last year, hotel prices are up by 11 percent, and rental cars prices are roughly flat, but demand is high for all aspects of travel, he said.

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“If you haven’t booked your holiday flights, you really need to start pulling the trigger because the longer you wait, they are going to max out in terms of seat capacity, and so you may not find a seat,” Keller said. “And two, the prices are just going to keep going up from here.”

Hayley Berg, lead economist at the travel booking app Hopper, said the single most important factor to save money on holiday flights is to lock in a fare now, either by booking or using a tool such as Hopper’s “Price Freeze” to hold the price for a fee.

Thanksgiving prices are increasing 5 percent per week, and in early November, they will start increasing by $10 or $15 per day, Berg said. At the last minute, they will shoot up $50 per day.

“If you wait until next week to book, you could end up paying on average $30 or $40 [more] than if you book today,” Berg said.

Here’s how much different parts of your Thanksgiving and Christmas trip will cost, and how the experts recommend you save money this holiday season.

How to find cheap flights for Thanksgiving

Airlines are operating with about 96 percent of the capacity they had in 2019, but demand for flights around the holidays is expected to be higher than three years ago, Berg said.

“That demand is going to start to outstrip the amount of supply airlines have available,” Berg said. “That is going to drive up prices significantly the closer we get to both holidays.”

An average domestic round-trip flight during Thanksgiving week will cost $468, up 48 percent from 2021 and 30 percent from pre-pandemic, according to Kayak.

To save money and avoid crowds, begin your trip on Monday of Thanksgiving week. Average ticket prices departing Monday are 30 percent lower than the Saturday before and nearly 15 percent lower than Wednesday, the busiest travel days, according to Expedia.

For the return leg, consider going home on Thanksgiving Day for the cheapest fares. If that’s not possible, return on Friday or wait until the following Monday. Those two days will have fares up to 10 percent cheaper than Sunday, according to Expedia.

How to find cheap flights for Christmas

It will be similarly important to find the sweet spot to fly for Christmas, when a domestic round-trip flight will average $574, according to Kayak. That’s 52 percent higher than 2021 and 50 percent higher than 2019.

Expedia recommends departing on the Monday or Tuesday of the week before Christmas, which falls on a Sunday this year. The most expensive days to fly are Saturday, Dec. 17, and Thursday, Dec. 22, and Thursday will see the most crowds, according to Expedia flight data. Christmas Eve and Christmas Day will have the cheapest fares.

When returning home from a Christmas trip, try to fly before Wednesday, when fares will start inching up again ahead of New Year’s, according to Berg.

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How to find cheap holiday flights to Europe

If you’re looking for a hop across the pond this holiday season, expect to pay significantly more for your flight than the past two years. Airfare to Europe for Thanksgiving is averaging $586 round trip, 12 percent higher than 2021 and 4 percent higher than 2019, according to Hopper.

Christmas flight prices to Europe are up 30 percent from last year and 7 percent from 2019, with an average round trip coming in at $984. This year’s fares remain lower than 2018, however, when Christmas flights to Europe were averaging over $1,000 thanks to high demand, according to Hopper.

If you want to save money on holiday flights to Europe, look at cities other than London, Paris, Milan and Rome, which Hopper says are seeing the highest search interest for the holidays this year.

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How to find a cheap rental car

Car rentals for Thanksgiving are averaging $60 per day, with travelers reserving a car for an average of five days, according to Hopper. Christmas prices are slightly higher at $65 per day, with the average rental lasting seven days.

Priceline estimates the average prices at slightly higher, at $84 per day. That figure would be 1 percent lower than 2021, when rental car shortages…